Fort Gibson and Oologah to meet for Oologah Invitational girls final
BY MIKE BROWN World Sports Writer
Saturday, January 12, 2013
1/12/13 at 4:55 AM
OOLOGAH - Expect a defensive slugfest Saturday when Class 4A No. 2 Fort Gibson faces No. 11 Oologah in the girls final of the Oologah Invitational.
Neither team is allowing many points this season, and both used suffocating defense in Friday's semifinals.
Fort Gibson (11-0) overcame poor shooting by forcing 23 turnovers and raced past Catoosa 52-29. Oologah (10-2) stopped Claremore Sequoyah cold over the final three quarters and downed the Eagles 47-23.
Saturday's 5 p.m. championship game will be the second meeting of the year. Oologah lost a 46-42 overtime decision to the Tigers in the semifinals of last month's Inola Invitational.
Catoosa (6-5) and Sequoyah (5-6) play for third place at 1 p.m.
Coming off a 4A state title in 2011 and runner-up finish in 2012, Fort Gibson has lost only twice over three seasons.
"They're a great program and our kids respect them," Oologah coach Kandy Damron said. "When your kids respect an opponent, you know they're going to be more focused than they usually are."
In the first meeting, Oologah forced overtime when Taylor McElhaney sank all three free throws after being fouled as time expired. But Fort Gibson made the plays down the stretch in the extra session.
On Friday, Oologah held Catoosa scoreless for over seven minutes of the second quarter, took a 19-11 lead to halftime and broke the game open in the third quarter when McElhaney scored nine of her 13 points. Brinley Evans had a game-high 16 points for the Mustangs, who won their eighth straight game.
Oologah allows just 28.8 points per game and has held eight opponents under 30.
Fort Gibson allows 31.8 points per game. Against Catoosa, the Tigers shot only 37 percent, but limited the Indians to only 28 attempts.
"We had good looks, we just couldn't put the ball in the hole," Fort Gibson coach Jerry Walker said. "The good news is, our girls didn't let our offensive woes stop us from putting the pressure on them. The effort was good."
Original Print Headline: Fort Gibson and Oologah triumph
Mike Brown 918-581-8390
mike.brown@tulsaworld.com
